The year in review

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HOUGHTONS

Springfield, MO --The Houghtons have had an interesting year to say the least. It was the year that saw significant money “donated” to the local health care system. It was a year that felt like a lot happened, and yet also felt like not very much happened at all. It was the year of our first Christmas letter.

The Better Half
Michelle went to full time with her pursuit of a Masters Degree in school counseling at Evangel University. She shifted to part time at work at Burrell Behavioral Health, running the program she started four years ago called KLASS, which is a great program teaching kids in a group setting about, well, social skills. Jeff is too old to enroll as a student. On the Masters Degree front, Michelle slowed down to a more reasonable pace after half of the year spent learning about mental health while injuring her own.

The Other Half
Jeff still works at the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks as a field representative. In that role he sets up blood drives with schools, churches, businesses, community organizations and anyone with blood in their veins that is willing. He then works with volunteers to make the blood drive a success. He has a territory so he is on the road a lot each day getting caught up on many podcasts that he enthusiastically recaps to Michelle each night.

Jeff still performs just about every Friday and Saturday night doing improv with The Skinny Improv at the theater downtown. He performs a lot of traveling shows on top of that too. In addition, his project, The Mystery Hour is still going really well in its second and now third season. It’s a late night talk show. Some people even say it’s the best monthly non-televised local talk show that happens to be downtown in all of Springfield. Even one of the Houghton dogs, Sammy, appeared on the show last month. In addition, Jeff writes an article for 417 Magazine spotlighting one of the guests who will appear on his talk show. He has shot a few embarrassing local commercials, one of which finds Jeff in a housecoat. Oh yeah, and he calls Bingo at a local coffee shop as a grizzled old man named Burt Machowski.


Why Michelle is Not Allowed Around Lawn Mowers in 2009
Michelle and Jeff had a great 4th of July weekend in St. Louis watching the Cubs beat up on the lowly Cardinals (Go Cubs Go!) and having fun at Six Flags. The next day Michelle was at her parents transporting their lawn mower because Jeff had broken theirs with his ‘run mowing.’ It was lifting the lawn mower into the car that proved to be the mistake. Unbeknownst to her at the time, she herniated a disc in her back. After literally laying down for 8 weeks she finally had surgery in late August. She tried her best to keep herself occupied while she and the bedroom ceiling became well acquainted. She had a lot of visitors, books read, websites checked, and pain… oh the pain! Almost immediately after surgery she felt better. Jeff drove back from family vacation in Colorado to be there with her. Noble indeed, but what was he doing out their enjoying himself while she was laid up anyway? Since then she has been easing back into exercise. She and a guy who looks strikingly similar to Jeff now take a Pilates class weekly.


“We do”
In February, Jeff and Michelle’s good friends Jeff Jenkins and Leah Hamilton got married. In fact, they met at Jeff and Michelle’s wedding. Jeff was a good, artificially tanned, best man. In April, one of Michelle’s best friends, Kesha Quigg got married and became Kesha Alexander. Michelle was a more appropriately tanned maid of honor. Then in May, Jeff’s sister, Cari married Bob and became Cari Everhart. It was a fun weekend in beautiful Lawrence, Kansas. Everyone was tan. Well, as tan as Houghton’s get naturally.


Jeff Becomes a Man
Jeff celebrated his 30th this year. Yep, seriously. They celebrated with a barbecue and wiffleball game, just like a 30 year old should.


Jeff Becomes a Man (again)
Onto a subject that should have been highlighted in a Christmas letter in the early nineties… About eleven months was spent with Jeff holding ceramic, rubber bands, metal, and previous meals in his mouth with his adult braces. He talked through them and about them all the time. Then, on the fateful day on November 10th, 2008, a day that will live in famy, Jeff got his braces off! All told he wore them for 2 years. They had become a centerpiece of the Mystery Hour. He is currently searching for new jokes, and sugar, lots and lots of sugar. Feel free to ask him to smile. He will gladly oblige.


Highlights
Michelle’s twin sister, Jenn, moved back into town and they hang out a lot, along with their other close friends. Yes, they look alike.

The Houghtons can often be seen around town traveling by bike. Michelle got a new basket and a bell for hers but ended up not being able to use it for most of the summer. There’s always next year.

Jeff got poison ivy while Scott was in town in July, which joined forces with the chiggers he got while camping with Bob and Cari, to form an itchiness that proved to be stronger than modern medicine for a good three months. Or as Jeff says, “like a whole year!”

The Houghtons took in a stray dog for what was anticipated to be a short time. He stayed long enough for his named to be changed from “New Guy” to Morris. He was as cute as he was not at all house trained.

The Houghtons started their first garden this year!

Currently, Jeff is facing impeachment after attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.


By the Numbers
5… Number of months the Houghtons cared for New Guy/Morris
43… Number of doo-doos and poop-poops cleaned up after Morris
0… Number of times Morris offered to help
21… Number of times Jeff got knocked over while filming a bit for The Mystery Hour with theSpringfield Roller Girls roller derby team
4125… Times Michelle has said “Good D-O-Gies” to Sammy and Lucy
4… Number of pops Jeff drank in two years while wearing braces
18… Number of pops drank since November 10th

2009…
Next year Michelle will be graduating from grad school and looking for a job. The Houghtons look forward to visiting their friends the Swinks in Washington D.C in March. That trip will come after their annual trip to the True/False documentary film festival that they looooove going to each year in Columbia, MO. Jeff will be wearing a retainer the rest of the year.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to spend more time with people like you who mean so much to us and are such a big part of our lives!

Sincerely,
The Houghtons

Update

Oh, how life has been busy! Its been good busy, but so much of my free time these days is taken with Christmas shopping, holiday get-togethers, and reading the Twilight series (yes, I am a fan). Plus I am sort of sick of hearing myself talk (or reading what I write, in this case) that I haven't felt like updating much. I go back and forth with this blog, not knowing whether I even want to keep it up or not. Well, not much else to say. My classes are finished after tomorrow for the semester, but I'm still plugging away at my internship at a Springfield middle school as well as work and my graduate assistantship at Evangel. I'm exicted for Christmas just to have another break.

Give a little love

Here is my heart to share tonight-- but I have to preface it a bit for understanding. I have this group counseling class that I have been going to this semester where we actually have group counseling in our class. Its been really powerful for me because I've used it as an opportunity to get some counseling. I have bumbled around a lot in it-- been pretty vulnerable and have put myself out there in a way that might be "too much"... but here is what I thought after tonight's session:

I am not so much going to title each section—what I am learning about myself, others, and about groups—but try to touch on each one throughout this reflection. I need the limitlessness of that in this moment, I believe. I hope that is ok. Tonight’s class (Yes, I was so moved by this group that I am writing as soon as I get home…) was good for me. I’ve really appreciated this group in my life right now as an outlet for me to share all the junk that rolls around in my head each week. I might only share part of it, sections really as I feel like I might explode with everything that lies in there if I don’t limit myself a bit, but I am learning so much from those sections I do share and am learning even more from others’ reactions, my reactions’ to their reactions, and others’ sharing of themselves too.
I have this need to know and be known. It’s like this driving force inside of me that won’t let me stop at simple pleasantries with others. I want to get behind people’s eyes, I want to connect with them, and I want them to connect with me, too. I think that is why I was so angry tonight with (no name here) for saying he didn’t really need to get into his feelings with others. I find it so hard to understand. I know, I know—I am differently wired than a lot of people in this area—I guess what I am trying to say is that I know I need to understand this about other people better; my response in anger is only because I want to feel validated in my own need to have others understand me. I am afraid of what it might say about me if others can control themselves to protect and choose when to open when all I want is to burst out with who I really am and get to the heart of all things (maybe too quickly). To me, life is just too short. I don’t want to go through this life not ever affecting anyone or letting others affect me—or protecting myself so much that I don’t feel anything. I want to feel everything.
God is really moving in me. This doesn’t have a ton to do with group—but it is on my heart at the moment so I am sharing. He really is. I don’t have any idea how or why or what—I just know he is doing something inside of me. This weekend my husband and I talked a lot about how we are seeing him move in our hearts and how we have no idea how to follow him or what we’re doing, but we both know for sure that giving up control to him is more important than anything that we try to do to connect with him.
I guess that is sort of like where I am at in this process with group. I see that we’re at an impasse of really opening up to each other—to really confronting ourselves and who we are—and I can’t wait to see how it plays out. If I give up this need to control and push us to the next point it will all play out so beautifully and I’ll feel better about my part in it all instead of guilt over “talking too much” or whatever. (I think talking is my own way of protecting maybe--interesting thought.) Letting go—feeling it all, letting God take the reigns—is so important to what I need right now.

These lyrics in a song by Noah and the Whale I am listening to really touched me tonight. Makes me think of what God is saying to me:
Well if you are (what you love)
And you do (what you love)
I will always be the sun and moon to you
And if you share (with your heart)
Yeah, you give (with your heart)
What you share with the world is what it keeps of you

not cool

Oh boy. Its 2am and I am feeling so uncool right now. Its been hard to be motivated recently after all the badness with the back situation. Once I moved on from that I got right back into school and my new internship at Pleasant View Middle School--- I just forget that creative michelle that likes to go and take over things-- do something new and fun and impressive. Not sure any of it was that impressive. Anyway, I've been up for the past hour reading blogs of others in this town who are infinitely more talented, cute, and motivated than I and am feeling a bit down on the old self. I don't even know why I bother to write when I've abandoned this thing so no one will possibly read, but I just want to say-- at least tomorrow-- I am going to be motivated, world. I am going to get up out of my bed and do something positive with myself other than clean my house. K? K.

le sigh

oh dear, things are not looking so bright today. The weather is beautiful, which reminds me of Colorado-- fairly warm with no humidity-- which reminds me that Jeff is headed there next week and I was supposed to go with him on my only vacation for the year but I have to stay here, in my boring bed with all this pain...
I have a checkup with my specialist doc on Monday. Its looking like I'm going to need surgery. I'm just not getting much better... I mean, I still cannot function without being on the full dosage of pain meds and muscle relaxers, and when I get up I still can only go a few minutes. Sigh.
I might not be able to enroll in classes for the fall either. I have a little less than three weeks until they start. I just have no idea how things are going to go, and I'm starting to get very anxious about, especially with all the money we're loosing from me being out of work.
Needless to say I'm a bit depressed today. I think I might go outside and lie on the concrete and pray. Get some vitamin d and try to trust that God has a plan.

design website junkie

after surviving one of the most hellacious weeks I've ever had (god i love grad school) I decided to give myself a break tonight... Took a nap this afternoon/evening, ate like a pig, put my new duvet cover on my bed, (pictures to come!) and started sewing a blanket I am making out of the old quilt from anthropologie we had on our bed. I did this all while watching one of the prettiest movies ever-- marie antionette with kristen dunst and jason schwartzman.

Oh, also-- it was a freakin' monsoon outside today! I came home from work and had to park across the street because my driveway was impassible with water. The fenced in garden area was completely washed out too-- all the weed barrier was wiped away along with the mulch covering it. I waded around out there tonight to make a makeshift-creek to get the water to run to the ditch in front of the house. crazy.

To get back to my break though-- I have been laying on my couch this past hours parusing through endless design websites and admiring others' work. Thought I'd post some pretties for you to enjoy. so, enjoy!

Of course I started with design sponge (see link to right) and found tons of goodies! This is from a website called fawn&forest by a designer named "KLT works". My womb has been itching so I found this ADORABLE!



Lighting by Offi & Company:



Let me take this opportunity to say that when it comes this time of year I get really excited about looking at new things because its my birthday and I like to find off-the wall crazy stuff to ask for. This would go perfectly in my room:
found this on fawn&forest too... decoylab... from KC, MO!



Journal by Nantaka Joy off threepotatofourshop.com website


notebook on threepotatofour.com


art by bird nerd from viatmindesignshop.com

Sigh (of relief)

Oh friends, I am so sorry. No one is ever going to read this anymore because I have been terrible-- TERRIBLE-- at keeping this site updated. I am truly sorry, more to myself.

Things have been good lately. Of course the weather is lovely this time of year, which means lots of backyard time with Jeff and the poochies. We aquired a new one a couple of weeks ago and are trying to find a home for him. We're calling him two names-- "new guy" and Morris. He's adorable, but three is a crowd, if you know what I mean. So, anyone want a dog?

Another part of this time of year-- Allergies. I've NEVER, NEVER, had them this bad except when I walk into a room where a cat is. For the past two weeks straight its been attack after attack of sneezing, itchy badness. I haven't been sleeping well its been so bad. (well, I don't sleep well anyway).

What else??? i'm enrolled in a class called Advanced Developmental Psychology. Its been a pretty good class. Challenging, yet interesting... makes me want to have babies. Seriously. Of course its not feesable until next year when I'm done with school, but my womb has started itching.

Another interesting tidbit-- I am addicted to Scramble on Facebook. Its a game you can play against your friends. I have about 7 games going each day and spend the last 20 minutes of my waking hours playing... you should play too.

K, think that's about it. I miss people. I miss being involved. I think I am going to read blogs for the next 30 minutes or so to keep up. yey.